Canada’s organics industry was urged this month to form a national industry group so that its voice will be clearly heard by government on regulatory issues.
The message came from Joe Southall, who until recently was head of the organic production system task force.
“You guys really need to get together to do something about this,” he said during the Organic Matters on the Prairies conference held Nov. 12-13 in Brandon.
“It would benefit you to no end to have one national, democratically elected organization.”
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The task force was formed a year ago to develop a new national standard for Canada’s organics industry. While commending the industry for its work on that standard, Southall said the absence of a national industry group presented challenges.
“For me to get the Canadian scene on organics, I’ve got to travel across Canada and I’ve got to see a number of different groups of people. It’s a lot easier if I can pick up the phone and make one call.”
The new organic standard will likely be implemented next year, but will need to keep up with the times as the industry changes. Southall said those changes could be made more quickly if a national industry group was at the table.
“If the Canadian organic sector had a democratically elected national organization and an office in Ottawa, we would turn maintenance of the standard over to them and work with them in keeping it up to date.”
A variety of organic organizations exist in Canada, but none that speak for the entire industry.
Laura Telford, executive director of Canadian Organic Growers, said the organics industry has been working on establishing a national industry group for the past two years. With the approach of a new national standard and the rapid expansion anticipated for the industry, the need for such a group has become more pressing, she added.
“There’s going to be a big bump in the number of farmers being certified. There’s going to be a big jump in the number of processors. There’s also going to be a national logo, which means there’s going to be more consumer interest and awareness in organics.”
She said a national group representing all organic sectors could start taking shape within the next six months. The hope is to have an organization that can address regulatory issues as well as market access.
She agreed with Southall that the organics industry could suffer if such an organization cannot be formed.
“In the U.S. it seems like the government has often moved on with making changes to the regulation without consulting the sector and we do not want that to happen in Canada,” she said.
“It can’t be top down the way it has been in the U.S. It needs to be from bottom up.”
